We
write to bring to your attention the profound humanitarian crisis
continuing in the Kashmir Valley due to the ongoing blockade of the
Srinagar-Jammu highway by religious nationalist groups from India. This
has resulted in severe shortages in the Kashmir Valley of food and
other vital provisions. We are reliably informed that petrol and
essential medical rations, including blood, are in critically short
supply, as well as newsprint, and that communication services and
infrastructure are severely disrupted.

The situation in Jammu,
where the Muslim minority is facing violence on a scale that can be
described as ethnic cleansing, is alarming. The Government of India and
the military and paramilitary forces have shown themselves unable
and/or unwilling to take any effective action, either to end the
blockade or to stop the violence against Muslims in Jammu. Meanwhile,
military and paramilitary forces have opened fire on
counter-demonstrators in Kashmir, using live bullets and mortar. A
communiqué from the Kashmir Valley states that:

"The situation
here on ground is that essential commodities have started getting dried
up, diesel is already out of stock and petrol at its verge of end. The
people here are very much concerned as if the same continues for next
few days there will be nothing left to eat with the people of Kashmir.
And on the other side the Army is supporting the mobs who have
allegedly beaten up the drivers stranded on the national highway. The
drivers who were beaten up reported that they asked Army to help them
but all went in despair and the Army people in return handed them over
to the mobs. The target is only the Kashmiri Muslims and some sources
from Jammu say that it is the outsiders who have come to Jammu and are
doing such attacks on the Muslims and it is quite evident that the
Hindu fundamentalist groups viz. BJP, RSS VHP, etc., are all sponsoring
the planned attacks onto the Kashmiris like it was done in Gujarat.
Here in Kashmir we feel the history seems to be being repeated by the
Hindu fundamentalists who had earlier in 1947 killed about 250,000
Muslims in Jammu."

On August 11, 2008, approximately 100,000
Kashmiris, including fruit growers and others gravely affected by the
blockade, marched toward the Line of Control toward Pakistan markets in
protest. They were met with gunfire and tear gas from the military and
paramilitary forces, and Sheik Abdul Aziz, an All Parties Hurriyat
Conference leader, was shot dead, intensifying the situation. Police
reports stated that three others were killed and over 200 injured,
enervating health systems already low on supplies. Other sources we
contacted stated that as many as 18 others may have been killed in
Kashmir on August 11. By early evening of August 12, as we write you,
reports stated that as many as twelve persons were killed in Kashmir on
that day as armed forces fired on demonstrators. Other reports stated
that civil society groups, students, and labor unions participating in
non-violent civil disobedience and peaceful protests are being targeted
by the forces, as curfew conditions prevail.

The Srinagar-Jammu
highway is the only land route linking the Kashmir Valley to India and
the sole conduit for essential supplies as well as for exporting
horticultural goods, which are among the Valley's chief products. News
updates on the state of the blockade and situation can be found from
leading Kashmiri newspapers, which are online at
www.greaterkashmir.com; www.kashmirtimes.com; www.risingkashmir.com;
www.etalaat.com/english/.

About 95-97 percent of the population
of the Valley is Muslim, while Muslims are a minority in India. This
has made Kashmir the target of increasingly aggressive campaigns by
Hindu nationalist groups since 1947, despite guarantees of autonomy
written into the Indian Constitution. The Government of India has
failed to take measures to prevent these campaigns, consisting of
marches and demonstrations, and culminating in the current blockade.
Since 1989 there has been an armed pro-independence struggle in
Kashmir, together with other and non-violent movements for
self-determination. Indian counterinsurgency operations have resulted
in grave abuses of human rights with social, economic, psychological,
political, and environmental consequences, which meet the definition
under international law of crimes against humanity. To a population
suffering the effects of nineteen years of armed conflict, the economic
crisis caused by the blockade comes as the last straw.

We urge
that you respond expeditiously to this situation in accordance with the
mandate to uphold human rights as enshrined in the charter of the
United Nations.

Recommendations:1. The Government of India
should immediately end the economic blockade and ensure that goods and
services, including emergency medical and food supplies, can move in
both directions along the Srinagar-Jammu border.2. The Government
of India should open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, a promise
repeatedly reiterated by successive governments of India and Pakistan,
though never implemented. This would ensure that the current crisis
situation is not repeated as well as mark a concrete step forward in
addressing injustices and the peace process.3. Take immediate action to stop the violence against the Muslim minority in Jammu and bring those responsible to justice.4.
Put an end to ongoing human rights abuses by Indian forces and
pro-India militias as repeatedly promised by the Indian Prime Minister
and expected of democratic governments.5. Take steps for a
long-term resolution of the conflict by beginning talks with all
sections of the Kashmiri leadership and civil society.6. Take steps
to hold the Indian state accountable under the provisions established
by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, Constitution of India, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and International Laws and
Conventions.

We, the undersigned, are academics, social
activists, writers, filmmakers, artists, lawyers, and concerned
citizens. Our work and conscience connects us to Kashmir and its
people. We hold no political affiliations. Please do not hesitate to
contact us if we may be of further use.